Category: Our Blog

Robert Louis Stevenson — ‘We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.’

The grand tours are one of the cycling calenders highlights. Three weeks of relentless attrition, stunning scenery and a plot that would put most soap operas to shame it is easy to see why they are popular with cycling fans the world over.

We like them that much we’ve included them in our branding. If you look at our logo you’ll see three stripes – no guessing what the colours signify.

Regular visitors to our site will know we stock and sell our own brand of mugs which has been hugely successful with sales to former tour riders, art galleries and locations as diverse as Australia and Japan.

We’ve been getting our creative juices flowing again and have come up with our own Grand Tourist Supplies mug.

We hope you like it.

Don’t miss out on any of our new products, special offers or other random related bits of information by signing up to our newsletter.

To give you an idea of what you’ve been missing here’s our last one: http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7ee9eebc80eebdf751827c8b1&id=a7e7cd6576

We’re delighted (over the moon as they say in these parts) to become a dealer for Rikulau frames.

Taiwan is known for producing quality bicycles that are distributed throughout the world. It is the major bicycle-manufacturing base in the world. Rikulau International teams up with several top level bicycle frame builders, component producers and academic institutions in Taiwan to produce the highest quality customized bicycles.

Rikulau is named after  the legendary sacred animal of the Rukai people – a Taiwanese aboriginal tribe. It is known in English as the clouded leopard and is the largest feline in Taiwan.

Rikulau International was the first company in Taiwan to customized bicycles to the customers. It is established in March 2006 by several friends that share the same joy of cycling. Among them are bicycle mechanical engineer, bicycle exporter, university professor, accountant, environmental engineer, and artist. They differ in background, but have the common dream of bringing the spirit of the legendary animal into the bicycles that run through the roads and mountains with agility, speed and style.

We’ve been testing a 931 frame on the gravel/potholed/dirty roads of the Peak District and it’s been a revelation. The handling is neutral and the frame feels a little stiffer than a normal steel frame but still has the ability to dampen some of the road noise.

 

We’ve also built up a 853 frame which hopefully we’re going to use as a demo bike. It’s built with a Campagnolo Veloce groupset and a Deda finishing kit and Selle saddle – we can build YOU a similar bike for around £1299. Contact us for details.

For further details about Rikulau frames click here.

We’ve just had a fresh shipment of King Cages in from the USA.

If you’ve not heard of them, King Cage have been made in Colorado since 1991 by Ron Andrews. Ron has worked for some of the best frame builders in the cycling world including Ibis, Merlin and Yeti.

What makes King Cages so special ?

To put it in a nutshell King Cages are as tough as old boots and also very light – the titanium model weighs in at 28 grammes. If you’ve ever ridden over rough surfaces you’ll have noticed that one of the unexpected consequences of using some cages is that your water bottle ejects. With King Cage this rarely happens because you can bend the cage to make it a tighter fit. We’ve been using them on our cyclocross bikes and have yet to lose a bottle.

There are three models of King Cage – the stainless, the Iris and the Titanium. Check them out here.

You might know the name Edam from cheese, but this jersey is anything but cheesy. It’s made from Road Holland’s signature 61% / 39% Merino Wool – poly blend that is perfect in cool but not arctic cold conditions. An inner layer of Merino wicks moisture away from the skin while an outer layer of polyester helps that same moisture to quickly evaporate.

A full zip means you can easily put the Edam on over a base layer and vent it if you get too hot. Additionally, the Edam features a new back pocket design with two large cargo pockets than can accommodate a shell and lots of other gear you might need. The exterior zippered pocket is large enough to fully encase a smart phone. Running along the top edge of the pockets is a reflective strip to help keep you visible at night.

The Edam features a very slight roomier cut. The extra room will easily accommodate a base layer but will not result in flapping fabric if worn alone.

The Edam comes in Royal Orange (with Navy Accents) and Midnight Blue (with Orange Accents)

Check them out here

A lot of things have gone sideways with bicycle racing and bicycle technology these days, but there is one conundrum that’s easy to fix: Let’s all wear cycling caps—especially on the race podium, which has been sullied for years by baseball hats.

Wearing a cap is a gesture of respect for the long history of the sport, and of personal sartorial acuity. The cap is all ours and only ours — one of those idiosyncratic traditions of mysterious origin that symbolizes and expresses what it is and means to be a cyclist.

Spare, flashy, logoed to hell, handmade, new, old, nuovo retro, pulled down low and tight, worn backwards, lofted, only while riding, only in sight of your bike…You will hear and read all sorts of rules regarding the cycling cap. We believe you should find your way: Make cap-wearing as much of your own as you want and can, as long as you know and appreciate what has come before.

The Caps Not Hats cause is important fun. As you spread the ideal, enthuse rather than abuse. Cajole rather than coerce. And judge your belief not by the quantity of hats which remain but by the quality of the cap, which endures.

Join the movement and get your special-edition cap was inspired by Bill Strickland, designed by Superissimo, and produced by Walz, here.

Since we started Velotastic a few years ago we’ve been constantly looking for new and innovative products that you cannot buy at your local bike shop.One of the items that has been on our wish list is a decent quality wool jersey. We wanted a product that, like all of the items we sell, we would be proud to wear ourselves. As with all our suppliers, we like to work with people that treat their workers well and have a pride in their products, so we always like to know a little about who we are working with.

We came across a business called Road Holland. Based in the USA all of their jerseys are made in Miami from a wool/polyester blend. Road Holland was started by a pair of school friends, Richard and Jonathan, who wanted to make a stylish jersey that looked as smart both on and off the bike.

We believe that they have certainly achieved this in abundance with the detailing on their jerseys such as a beard cover on the top of the zip, a zipped pocket for your keys and a mobile sized middle pocket with a hole for your headphones.

They designed a jersey from scratch to meet this criteria. We tested these jerseys in a very wet northern England in winter and they have become our clothing of choice for keeping us warm. Being from sunny Florida, the merino/polyester blend  they use has a great wicking quality to keep you cool whilst riding.

We are initially stocking two lines – Den Haag and the Utrecht and are planning increasing our range throughout the summer.

The Utrecht cycling jersey has a cut that is half way between a race cut and a relaxed cut and is designed for club and sportive cyclists who are not as lean as a pro-cyclist but don’t want something they can put body armour underneath. The jersey has a slightly longer back than other jerseys we’ve tried. This is not a bad thing as it keeps the bottom of your back well and truly covered.

The Den Haag design is more like your traditional polo style cycling jerseys worn in the 1940’s and ’50s by the likes of Coppi and Bartoli. It has a pair of buttoned pockets on the rear and is really great if you commute to work and don’t like the lycra look.

All of the jerseys have a sizing that is more realistic than some of their European cousins which takes a little of the guesswork out of ordering.

Both these short sleeve Road Holland jersey’s will be £69.95 including free P & P to UK addresses.

Check out the full collection here.

 

We’re no way a big company, but when we can we like to put a little back into the sport we love.

We are pleased to announce that for the second year running we are advertising at the Tickhill Grand Prix.  If you’ve never seen criterium racing before it is held on a short circuit. Tickhill’s circuit is a real cracker because it is held on closed roads right through the centre of the village.

The event, which is in it’s second year has grown from strength to strength. Last year there was a single race. This year the organisers have put on a whole days worth of racing – from under 8’s to elite men’s and women. Unlike some events the elite women’s prize will be the same value as the elite men’s.

 

The Tickhill Grand Prix has chosen to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance  which is a worthy charity that has helped thousands of people including many cyclists.

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a racing snake or want to have an excellent day out watching cycling, the Tickhill Grand Prix is the place to be on August 24th.

Official Website.

We always aim to sell products that we use ourselves. This way we know they work and can talk about them from experience.

We’ve been using SKS Spaero mini pumps since last summer and they are a cracking little pump. We’ve managed to get five of them at a special price and are pleased to offer them at £24.99. Which is an absolute bargain for a quality pump – £10 less than the MRRP !

If you are interested we’ve got them for sale here.